Bears doing their due diligence on the top tight end prospects at the NFL Combine
The Chicago Bears are continuing to stay busy at the NFL Combine this year and have now set their sights on a particularly interesting offensive position. The Bears scouting party in Indianapolis has reportedly met with the top tight ends in the 2024 Draft class and could explore adding to the position in April's draft. […]
The Chicago Bears are continuing to stay busy at the NFL Combine this year and have now set their sights on a particularly interesting offensive position.
The Bears scouting party in Indianapolis has reportedly met with the top tight ends in the 2024 Draft class and could explore adding to the position in April's draft.
At the position, the Bears already have Cole Kmet locked in on a long-term deal he signed last offseason. However, with new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron coming to Chicago, another big bodied pass catching target could be on the way.
The Bears have already been confirmed to have met with Georgia's tight end Brock Bowers, Texas' tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders, and Kansas State's tight end Ben Sinnott.
Bowers and Sanders are widely regarded as the top tight ends in this year's class, with Bowers expected to potentially land in the first 10 selections. As for Sanders, his draft range is anywhere from the late-first to the early-second according to expert mocks.
Chicago currently has two selections in the Top-10 with the first overall pick and the ninth overall pick. The current belief is that the Bears will use the first overall pick to select their next franchise quarterback in USC's Caleb Williams. The Bears met with Williams officially on Wednesday night.
Bowers was asked specifically about his thoughts on the Bears and the potential of playing with Williams in Chicago and noted that Williams is awesome and the idea of playing with another top rookie in the NFL would be cool.
After the ninth overall pick, the Bears currently will not be making a selection again until the 75th overall pick in the third round. The Bears traded their second-round pick to the Washington Commanders for defensive end Montez Sweat at the trade deadline during the 2023 season.
But, there is a possibility of Chicago getting a second-round pick back. If the Bears are to fully dive into selecting a quarterback with the first overall pick, the team is expected to explore trade offers for quarterback Justin Fields which could net a second-round pick in return.
In that scenario, the Bears would definitely be in the range to pursue Sanders at the tight end position if they felt strong about his fit with the team following his meeting today.
Sinnott's meeting with the Bears is perhaps the most intriguing from a team-fit standpoint. After his meeting, Sinnott told reporters that he spoke with Bears' tight end coach Jim Dray and discussed whether or not he could play fullback if he were to be needed in that role for the Bears' offense.
According to Pro Football Focus, Sinnott played 91 snaps in the backfield during his final season at Kansas State in 2023. He also played 483 snaps inline and 168 snaps in the slot. He would be the perfect tight end to pair with Kmet who played 519 snaps inline and 278 snaps in the slot in 2023.
The Bears are certainly doing their due diligence on a wide variety of different tight ends in this year's class and could make their new offensive coordinator a happy man if they choose to pursue one of these options.
The tight end prospects will be conducting the testing drills starting tomorrow at 3pm EST alongside the defensive back prospects.
Bears’ top pass rush targets in the 2024 NFL Draft are already eager about potentially playing alongside Montez Sweat
Will the Bears look to draft one of these top prospects?
